Nah Trudy, caption needs a tweak " try as I might, I just can't get to grips with CPR":smile: .

In response to an absence of a sense of humour and censorship there will be no more posts from me on the Frivoulous Friday thread. — Andrew

Don't let the earnest wear you down mate, we'll bombard them with humour and until they bloody well laugh and get the point of this thread.

I would hesitate to use most "Test and tag" companies to confirm additional guard/interlocks are in place. There are still a lot of providers in this industry who are relatively untrained in anything but the specific tester they are using — MattD2

One of the banes of my life, some procurement officer trying to beat me down on my pricing using as a basis a "quote" from a muppet who has brought a basic PAT off TradeMe and almost knows how to turn it on, so I'd agree some due diligence is required.

but I would recommend some good discussion and understanding of what each company is signing up for before outsourcing these types of checks. — MattD2

This should be getting done for all testing & tagging, whether outsourced to an Electrician/Electrical Contracting Company, or Test & Tag Service, or an inhouse DIY tagger- regardless of who put the sticker on, the person responsible for the site (electrical installation) is responsible for ensuring that the person testing is competent to do the job in accordance with the applicable standards and Regulations.

Regards
Steve Hodgson
Port Appliance Test & Tag
https://port-testntag.co.nz/

Hi Chris
"The checks that I want to carry out at a yet to be determined frequency would be a record that the guards are still in place and are undamaged (this would be in addition to regular pre-use checks that we do not want to keep records of)."

This should be getting done every six months by whoever is testing and tagging your tools, leads and plug in machinery. The equipment and software I use has a visual test check list, when I'm testing an item with safety interlocks/guards etc, I confirm their presence and functionality and note that in the comments section of the test results for each item.

There is no reason why test & tag can't be applied to a hard wired appliance so the guarding/safety interlocks on those items are getting checked also, In fact for such items in an hostile environment are included in AS/NZS 3760 (see 1.2.3 Fixed or stationary equipment b)

Regards
Steve
Port Appliance Test & Tag
https://port-testntag.co.nz/

[
Like your thinking Andrew

If you hold some form of Electrical Registration and a current Practicing License, you can access some Electrical Standards via a subscription that the Electrical Workers Registration Board has with Standards NZ, this is paid for by part of the 2 yearly fee for a PL.

Perhaps other industry/associations do provide, or could provide a similar service for their members.It is unfair that gaining access to a particular Standard can only be done by paying a fee, when compliance with it is mandated in a piece of legislation.

Steve Hodgson
Port Appliance Test & Tag

I have had a number of people tell me that they have received an electric shock from an item of equipment, and have not reported it to WorkSafe. Any non lethal shock is a notifiable incident, and the recipient of the shock, should be taken to the nearest doctor/medical center and have an ECG (note that static electricity doesn't count)
Steve Hodgson
Port Appliance Test & Tag

A radical thought, just say no, I've been hit with the demand that I register with ISNetwork to do work for one client who has made the decision to outsource contractor management to them, another has just sent me a letter telling me they are going with Damstra because:

To improve contractor safety, ******** have engaged Damstra as a tool to assist us to manage our contractor compliance. Damstra have extensive experience in radically transforming site visitor processes to easily manage, track and protect site visitors. We know that contractors are three times more likely than our own people to be injured on our sites, so this is an important step in our ongoing safety journey.

The new Damstra solution will streamline contractor management by lifting considerable administrative burden at sites and giving us greater confidence that every contractor who enters our sites is compliant and safe, thereby eliminating the existing time-consuming, repetitive and often complex paper based processes we use today. We also see benefits for contractor principals with visibility around the licences and qualifications of their employees.

It all sounds so great, but as I only do work for one of their sites, and that's worth about $100 per year more than it was going to cost to pay the annual fees for Damstra, it was easy to say no thanks.

Steve

Hi Greg

Thermal imaging could be a possibility, I inspect servers, switchboards and electrical control cabinets which it's generally preferred to be non contact.

How close can you get to your "stockpiles", what sort of resolution are you looking for? By this, I mean do you need to know the spot temp of an item 10cm in diameter at 20m, or just the overall temp of your pile.

Steve Hodgson
Port Appliance Test & Tag

My first amendment to the proposed changes:
L.3 Connection requirements

The construction power supply switchboard shall be provided within the site boundary and in accordance with 2.3, and additionally, shall provide all of the following:

"NOTE The requirement of the switchboard within the site boundary is to prevent extension cords to the building site from crossing road reserve.

(a) The system of supply shall be TN-C-S (MEN) single phase;

(b) The provision of a 16 A socket outlet complying with IEC 60309 for the connection and supply of a transportable structure (connectable installation in NZ) is optional"

The first change, provision of a 16A socket outlet "shall be provided" There should be nothing optional about provision of suitable supplies to run concrete polishers, welders, dust extraction systems on any site (along with a suitable supply outlet for a connectable installation such as a site hut, workers smoko room etc on any building site

Crikey it's good to have the Forum back, Steve Hodgson, Electrical Service Technician and owner/manager of Port Appliance Test & Tag. Member of the old forum going back to 2009 when Sandie and I started our business off.
We test appliances for a wide variety of businesses and,it is interesting to see the different approaches to electrical safety in those businesses, happy to help anyone with a question on the various standards and regulations that apply to electrical appliances.